Aug 29, 2016 | tphilp | 1382 views
Toros Atom AE Bull-dozes in Exhibition Tilt
The Clarington Toros Atom AE squad left no doubt in their 1st Exhibition Game of the 2016-2017 Season, beating the Oshawa Minor Generals 5-0 on home turf at South Courtice Arena.
The players established it was "our house" within the first minute of the 1st period with T. Taylor slapping in a rebound from a L. Geniole shot with T. Oliver on the doorstep. The 1st period ended 1-0, as the Oshawa players stiffened up the defense, showing that they would not be going down without a fight. Some superb saves from both goalies D. Baksh (Toros) and T. Gibson (Generals) ensured a tight score.
The 2nd period was a very defensive-minded affair; no goals on either end. It was T. Gibson who made the save of the period, demoralizing the Toros bench with a collective groan. Following a N. Hibbard power shot and fluttering rebound, G. Antaya's impressive out-of-the-air slap of the puck in the crease was quickly stifled with a flourish of Gibson's glove. Look for him to give the Toros team fits in future matches.
Both goalies were exchanged mid-way through the 2nd period. D. Baksh maintained his first of many predicted shut-outs, thanks in part to excellent back-checking from L. Guernsey, L. Storey, and J. Jessen, to name a few. It was A. Csizmadia (Toros) and I. North's (Generals) turn to play net minder, just in time for some heavy shots from both ends of the ice. Csizmadia was busy in the 2nd period, claiming he saw "25 shots at least" in the back-half of the game.
The 3rd period Toros came out of the gate firing, dominating the first half of the period with some nice passes from R. Viegas, C. Davis, and N. Fraser. It was T. Taylor who got the pivotal second goal though, dangling around two Generals players from the side boards to go high glove on I. North, followed by an uproar from the crowd. This opened the floodgates, with S. Archer putting in a nifty backhand from the side of the net, assisted nicely by L. Storey and L. Guernsey. The last 7 minutes of the game were stressful, as the Generals pushed very hard towards our net. With some excellent defensive play from L. Geniole, a strong stick from E. Carey, and some diving blocks from no-fear J. Ward, the Toros were able to keep it out of Csizmadia's net, who played excellent position throughout the whole contest. Two late goals secured it for the Toros, with a hat-trick goal from T. Taylor and a very nice breakaway goal from L. Guernsey who showed his speed getting past several Generals players with ease.
The players will be practicing hard the next two weeks, preparing for their pre-season tournament action in Cobourg on September 9th - 11th. GO TOROS!